Ways to Connect

On Tuesday night President Obama will be making his third State of the Union address to Congress and the American public. He has progress to announce, the death of Osama bin Laden as well as the ending of war in Iraq but the economy is still stagnant with only little improvements and he'll need to be able to explain that. The day after the address, we'll listen back to segments of it, see what he said, what he focused on and how the content and tone of his speech may play out to Americans listening, especially in an election year.

It’s been almost two years since President Obama signed into law sweeping health care reform called The Affordable Care Act". Since its passing, its set off legal challenges but also set in motion changes that have taken hold, including requiring coverage for young adults. We’ll take a look at this law, its progress, its problems, and its prospects, as well as how the political climate affects the debate, especially as President Obama prepares for his State of the Union address Tuesday evening.

The days leading up to the Palmetto state’s primary were a raucous affair with spirited television debates, candidates dropping out, major mud flinging and an inundation of attack ads. Now that the dust has settled, we’ll talk about who won, who lost, and how this contest shapes the rest of the republican Presidential race.

For three decades, Gary Hirshberg has been at the helm of one of the Granite state’s largest and most prominent businesses, as well as a leading advocate for both the organic and local food movements and democratic causes. Now, Hirshberg is stepping down. We’ll talk with him about his legacy, how ideas around food have evolved over his time there and what may be next for him.

Guest

Gary Hirshberg - Chairman, president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry.

Next week on the Exchange, we begin by examining the South Carolina Primary and if the results may re-shape the Republican Presidential campaign. Then, nearly two years after the Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama, we'll look to see what progress has been made and what major roadblocks lie in its way. We'll discuss Obama's State of the Union Address, talk roads and bridges and rail, with New Hampshire’s new Transportation Commissioner Christopher Clement, and end the week with the authors of a new book exploring the “dark side” of American Politics….opposition researchers w

A decade ago, President Bush signed into this wide-ranging education reform bill into law, which has been hotly debated since. Supporters of No Child Left Behind said it was a “wake up call” for public schools, but opponents said it created a nightmare of paperwork and impossible expectations. We’ll look at the legacy of NCLB, where its helped the national education system, its challenges and how the Obama White House has approached it.

We explore the economic philosophy of John Maynard Keynes. His ideas of government spending “priming the pump” during bad times have been applied by American leaders from FDR to Obama. But Keynsian theory continue to spark fierce debate – some feel it’s still the best way out of a slump – but others believe this distorts the free-market and that these ideas have run their course.

A new law allows parents who object to certain classroom materials to request alternative coursework for their child. Governor Lynch vetoed the bill last year, but the legislature recently overrode that veto. We’ll look at arguments for and against this law, and how school districts may adapt.

Guests:

J. Scott Moody, Vice President of Policy at Cornerstone Policy Research and Cornerstone Action

We sit down with NPR Media correspondent David Folkenflik. He’s the guy who covers the latest from the news business from the New York Times and Fox News to individual bloggers and small-town papers. And, at times, Folkenflick’s had to report on the blemishes at his own organization.

Next week on the Exchange, we start off with a favorite from the Exchange vault, our interview with NPR's Media Correspondent, David Folkenflick. Then we discuss the realities of a new state law that would allow parents to block material in schools that they found objectionable. Wednesday we explore the economic philosophy John Keynes. His ideas have been applied by American leaders from FDR to Obama, but some say that in twenty twelve the Keynesian way has run its course.

We sit down with a roundtable of House and Senate leaders on the New Hampshire Legislature from 2012. Only two weeks in, and the statehouse is full-steam head with debates on guns, education, redistricting, and it’s only just begun. We’ll talk about their hopes for 2012, and where they may find common ground which could be hard to find in an election year.

Former New Jersey Governor and EPA head Christie Todd Whitman is now leading a national effort to expand nuclear power, calling it the best clean energy source to replace fossil fuels. But her efforts come at a difficult time for the nuclear industry, given fears stoked by the Fukushima disaster in Japan last spring and criticisms from some suggesting that danger it can bring is not worth the energy it can provide.

After nearly a year of speeches, rallies, political ads and debates, New Hampshire's First in the Nation Primary ended pretty quickly tonight with Mitt Romney taking gold. Ron Paul finished a strong second with John Huntsman, who put all his cards into the Granite State, finished a respectable third. Today we'll we'll look back at last night's contest, see who the big winners and loser were and where the race to be the Republican Presidential candidate goes from here.

According to our guest today, Colin Woodard, America's political divisions aren't between red states and blue states, right and left, Republicans and Democrats but between 11 distinct North American cultural regions. They are regions the he names "Yankeedom", "Greater Appalachia", "The Deep South" and "The Far West" and they have been created by centuries of Americans who settled there, each with their own unique cultures, religions, political traditions and ethnographic characteristics. Woodard suggests that only by truly understanding these regions can we begin to see beyond these deep

No matter how much you love a candidate's jobs plan, their ideas around health care, their environmental platform or their views on immigration, if you want a Republican in the White House and they can't beat the President, it may not be the best choice. Some of that has to do with familiarity of the candidate, some has to do with money, and some has to do with those platforms and how they not only counter the President's but fall in favor with many independents who may be on the fence.

"Skating on thin ice" is the way one New Hampshire economist describes the current state of our economy. New Hampshire is still out performing other states in terms of its unemployment rate and the stability of its housing market, but economic troubles in Europe could mean bad news for the Granite State which relies very much on exports. Also some worry that if the national economy doesn't gain a lot of momentum, New Hampshire's economy could be compromised. Today we look at the New Hampshire economy, examine the good news and not so good news and ask whether 2012 may be the turnaround y

Next week on the Exchange we culminate our Issue Tuesday's series on a Monday as we look at the Republican Presidential candidates and how the topic of how electable they are may play into who the voters choose at the ballot box. Then on Primary Day, we talk to author Colin Woodard on his new book "American Nation" and explore how he says, our political differences as Americans are not determined by red states and blue states but 11 distinct cultural North American regions that's histories have formed our true divisions.

Two recent reports examined the impact of this Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI on New Hampshire. One touts the energy savings that have come from the program, the other suggests that the Granite State may not be benefiting as much as other participating states. We’ll look closer at these two studies and how they may play into bills aimed at repealing or revising RGGI this year in the legislature.

It was a nail-biter at last night's Iowa Caucuses. After a year of campaigning, debating, promises and political ads, voting began for the twenty twelve Republican presidential candidate. A too close to call race went well into this morning with Mitt Romney squeaking out an 8 vote victory from Rick Santorum. Ron Paul came in a healthy third and Newt Gingrich a disappointing fourth. Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann will both re-evaluate their campaigns. We’ll look at the results and how they may affect the discussion in New Hampshire’s primary and other contests down the road.

Our issue Tuesday series continues with the Republican Presidential Candidates and their fiscal policies. The soaring national debt has been a rallying cry among republicans, who see it as a top economic threat. We’ll examine what the candidates are saying about government spending, debt and deficits…as well as entitlement reform, programs like Social security and Medicare.

In a new book, author Charles Mann explores what happened in the years after Columbus’s famed voyage to the Americas. He says it altered everything: sparking a new era of globalization and not just in commerce: but radical changes in crops, cultures, and politics. We’ll talk with Mann about this expansive look at this new era and how the world changed after Columbus.

Next week on the Exchange, we kick off the new year with a favorite from our archive vault as we talk with author Charles Mann on his book 1493. Then our Issue Tuesday's series continues with a look at where the GOP candidates stand on fiscal policy and such issues as taxation, entitlement spending, and the national debt. We follow up on the results of the Iowa caucus and what they might mean for the New Hampshire Primary, and we get an update and outlook on the Granite State’s economy.

Today it's our New Hampshire Newsmakers of the Year show, the 2011 edition. From the economy to the primary, from battles over the budget to extreme weather, we'll look at some of the top stories of the year, see what's happened to those stories since the headlines have died and see how they may play out in the coming year.

When immigrants and refugees come to a new country like America, they are often cut off from their homeland, their loved ones and their culture. Often they are required, even at very young ages, to navigate a tangled web of bureaucracies and to adapt rapidly to new settings. Many newcomers find resources that help them make the transition to their new lives in New Hampshire yet others may find those resources lacking. We listen to firsthand accounts of the struggles involved in coming to the Granite State.

In recent years, children are arriving from new countries, bringing diversity but also new challenges. Many don’t speak English and some aren’t literate in their own language. We talk with people in the education system and folks dealing with foreign born newcomers on a daily basis and ask how they are working to overcome these issues.

Guests:

June Tumlin: Department Head of the English Learner program at Manchester Central High School

Healthcare delivery is complicated enough without language barriers, financial difficulties and cultural misunderstandings. Being a newcomer in a strange country presents many new challenges but healthcare is one of the most difficult to overcome. We take a look at the myriad obstacles the foreign born population face, and what some local healthcare providers are doing to help overcome them.

We’re looking at the history of immigration as a part of NHPR’s year long series on New Hampshire’s Immigration Story. In the early days it was French Canadians and Irish who arrived, at the turn of the last century Greeks and Eastern Europeans and today, new arrivals from Brazil, to Burundi to Bhutan. We’re looking at who came, why they came and the little known stories around our immigration history.

Guests:

David Watters: Professor of English at UNH, where he is the director of the center for New England culture.

The London Sunday Telegraph once proclaimed Charles Dickens as "The Man who Invented Christmas" and his timeless story "A Christmas Carol", the main reason why. Written in London in 1843, at a time of expanding urbanization and industrialization, and a declining interest in old customs and ceremonies, "A Christmas Carol" with Scrooge, Cratchit, Tiny Tim and a host of ominous ghosts, helped its readers find the true spirit of Christmas and look back nostalgically at the old time Christmas traditions of friends, family, fun and frivolity.

We sit down with NHPR President Betsy Gardella! She’s steered our ship for the past six years, and she also sits on the Board of Directors at National Public Radio. We’re taking a look at some of the changes at both institutions over the past year, from programming changes to technology to new transmitters reaching new listeners in the North Country.

Every ten years, with new census data, states need to re-draw their political lines and it’s never pretty. This year is no exception, with competing partisan maps and legislative approval on a final plan due in January. We’ll see where the new lines may land and how that could affect New Hampshire voters this fall.